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Current Operational Status <br />Summary <br />The Munger Canyon Mine is a small, inactive, largely reclaimed underground mining operation located <br />in western Garfield County, approximately 20 miles north of Loma, Colorado. Operational mine <br />facilities included a portal bench located in an upper segment of Munger Canyon, and a small coal mine <br />waste disposal area located further down the canyon. These facility areas were accessed by an <br />access/haul road extending to the east from State Highway 139. The road, mine bench and four portals <br />were developed in 1977, under a USGS exploration permit. Disturbed area associated with these <br />facilities was approximately 10.8 acres. The mine was permitted under the interim program in July <br />1978 (Permit No. 78 -57), and a permanent program permit (C- 1981 -020) was issued to Central <br />Appalachia Mining, LLC on January 12, 1983. There was limited coal extraction from the portals. <br />Significant expansion of facilities and large scale mining was planned and approved in the early 1980's, <br />but did not occur. Ownership of the coal in the Munger Canyon Mine permit area is 100 percent <br />Federal. There was no coal ever removed from the mine under the Colorado permanent program <br />mining permit and no coal production is proposed under the current permit. <br />In addition to the mine site portion of the permit area, the operator CAM Mining, LLC leases a rail <br />loadout from the Union Pacific Railroad, located along a previously disturbed industrial site at the town <br />on Loma, Colorado. The 5.6 acre rail loadout facility located in Loma was also permitted under Permit <br />C- 1981 -020. The loadout facility was used infrequently, and the area disturbed by coal stockpiling and <br />handling activity was approximately 2.9 acres. The rail loadout has been reclaimed. The mine was <br />placed in temporary cessation in January 1984, and remained in temporary cessation for over 20 years. <br />In October 2004, site preparation for the small waste disposal site to handle coal waste from the <br />adjacent McClane Canyon Mine was initiated. Mine status was changed from temporary cessation to <br />active, to allow development and periodic use of the waste disposal site. <br />The permit area encompasses approximately 1028 acres (1022.4 acres in the mine area, and 5.6 acres at <br />the Loma loadout). Existing disturbed area in the mine area is approximately 17.9 acres. The disturbed <br />area at the Loma loadout is approximately 2.9 acres. Total permitted disturbed area (mine/loadout <br />combined) is 20.8 acres. <br />The coal mine waste disposal area in lower Munger Canyon was approved under Technical Revision <br />14, and involved relocation of a segment of the Munger Canyon Road. Site construction and initial <br />waste disposal occurred in the fall of 2004. Periodic haulage of coal waste from McClane Canyon <br />Mine and disposal in the Munger disposal area occurred between late 2005 and the early summer of <br />2007. The coal mine waste disposal site has been fully reclaimed and in April 2008 the operator <br />submitted a final certified inspection report stating that the pile has been graded, covered with topsoil, <br />and revegetated in accordance with applicable rules. The coal mine waste area was released from <br />Phase I bond liability in 2009. <br />The four portals at Munger Canyon were sealed with MSHA approved concrete foam in 1992, at <br />varying distances in from the openings. One of the openings had apparently been filled and covered <br />over with soil shortly after sealing. The remaining openings were backfilled with soil outby the seals in <br />3 <br />